وَقَالَ فِرْعَوْنُ ذَرُونِىٓ أَقْتُلْ مُوسَىٰ وَلْيَدْعُ رَبَّهُۥٓ ۖ إِنِّىٓ أَخَافُ أَن يُبَدِّلَ دِينَكُمْ أَوْ أَن يُظْهِرَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ ٱلْفَسَادَ 26
Translations
And Pharaoh said, "Let me kill Moses and let him call upon his Lord. Indeed, I fear that he will change your religion or that he will cause corruption in the land."
Transliteration
Wa qala fir'awnu dharuni aqtul musa wa lyad'u rabbahu inni akhafu an yubaddila dinakum aw an yuhira fil ardi al-fasad
Tafsir (Explanation)
Pharaoh commands his people to allow him to kill Musa (Moses), claiming that Musa will change their religion or cause corruption on earth. According to Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari, this reflects Pharaoh's desperation and fear of losing his power and influence over the Egyptian people. His stated reasons—religious corruption and societal disorder—were pretexts masking his real concern: that Musa's message of monotheism would undermine his own authority and divine claims. Al-Qurtubi notes that tyrants typically justify oppression under the guise of protecting religion and social order.
Revelation Context
This ayah occurs within the narrative of Musa and Pharaoh in Surah Ghafir, which details the spiritual struggle between divine truth and human arrogance. The context shows Pharaoh's escalating hostility toward Musa after witnessing miraculous signs. This passage illustrates the classic pattern of how power-hungry rulers respond to divine guidance with violence and false justifications, a recurring theme throughout the Quran's historical narratives.
Related Hadiths
While no directly specific hadith addresses this verse, Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim contain multiple hadiths about the persecution of prophets and believers, emphasizing that opposition to divine guidance is an ancient pattern. The theme echoes in hadiths about the Prophet Muhammad's persecution in Mecca, where his message was similarly characterized as a threat to the existing social order.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah reveals how those in power often mask their resistance to truth under false pretenses of protecting society or religion. Modern readers should recognize that opposition to justice and divine guidance frequently employs rhetorical justifications about 'stability' or 'order,' while the real motivation is preservation of unjust authority and privilege.